Ben Shapiro on how to win a debate against a bully like Piers Morgan

Matt K. Lewis

Matt K. Lewis is a senior contributor to The Daily Caller, and a contributing editor for The Week. He is a respected commentator on politics and cultural issues, and has been cited by major publications such as The Washington Post and The New York Times. Matt is from Myersville, MD and currently resides in Alexandria, VA. Follow Matt K. Lewis on Twitter <a>@mattklewis</a>.

1. Go on offense. “The fact that I went on offense against him — and the fact that we got to have a cogent political debate — those [two things] are inseparable,” Shapiro explained.

“If Piers had his way during that interview,” Shapiro continued, “it would have been him attacking me for being a bad person. That’s what he wanted to do. And by attacking his tactic right at the outset…he was forced to actually discuss whether policies were going to be effective or not.”

2. “[K]now the basis for what you’re saying. Not just the talking points — what’s the philosophical basis?” Rather than letting Morgan define the debate in narrow terms (such as, should we have some “common sense” gun control, or not?), Shapiro expanded the debate to expose larger philosophical inconsistencies in Morgan’s thinking (namely that he claims he doesn’t have a problem with handguns — even though they are responsible for many more deaths.)

Too often, cable TV discussions miss the forest for the trees. It is only by drilling down and discovering what undergirds our “solutions” that we can have a rational discussion about which policy decisions are actually logical — not just emotional.

3. Conservatives can be contentious and serious. “If you read the transcript of what I said to Piers Morgan,” Shapiro said, “there’s nothing there that’s not red meat. … Part of it is the manner in which I said it. You can say things in a thoughtful way. You can say things in a way where it’s clear that you’ve considered the issue. I wasn’t out there throwing bombs for the sake of throwing bombs. I was going out there and saying things that had evidentiary basis to them.”

Special Offer: A Chance to Win a Free eBook copy of Ben Shapiro’s ‘Bullies’!

Starting Monday, the great R.J. Moeller and I will be reading Ben Shapiro’s new book, “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences Americans.”

And you can read along with us on Copia — and see our highlights and margin notes!

(If you’re not familiar with Copia, it’s basically an eReader — and a social network — combined. Think of this as a book club that allows us to read books together — and electronically share our thoughts and insights, literally in the margins.)

Here’s how you can register for the ‘Bullies’ eBook giveaway on Wednesday, January 23: